Gaborone - Gaborone United this week pulled out of the CAF Confederations Cup, few days before their scheduled match against Jeshi Kujenga Uchumi (JKU) of Zanzibar.

The preliminaries first-leg match was due to be played at the Amaani Stadium in Zanzibar City on Saturday.

GU secretary general Gofhamodimo Senne blamed lack of financial resources for their sudden withdrawal from the continental competition.

He said it was going to be too expensive to foot both traveling and accommodation expenses for the match. "It was going to cost the club at least half a million Pula to cover the trip to Zanzibar.

We tried to push until the last minute to secure funding but failed in the end.

Therefore, we had no option but to withdraw," Senne said in an interview on Tuesday. He said GU management has informed Botswana Football Association (BFA) about the matter. "Botswana Football Association will in turn notify CAF. We know there will be some punishment, but there was nothing we could do," Senne said.

Quizzed on why they waited until the eleventh hour before withdrawing, the former defender explained that the club had hoped for financial assistance from some unnamed sources. He however said they couldn't reach an agreement with the parties they were negotiating with.

The decision by GU has left Botswana without representatives in CAF club competitions this year after Mochudi Centre Chiefs withdrew from the Champions League last month.